diff --git a/psiturk/db.py b/psiturk/db.py
index c0426e2c..46238fa8 100644
--- a/psiturk/db.py
+++ b/psiturk/db.py
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@
     # internally use `mysql+pymysql://` so sqlalchemy talks to
     # the pymysql package
     DATABASE = DATABASE.replace('mysql://', 'mysql+pymysql://')
+if 'postgres://' in DATABASE.lower():
+    # internally use `mysql+pymysql://` so sqlalchemy talks to
+    # the pymysql package
+    DATABASE = DATABASE.replace('postgres://', 'postgresql://')
 
 engine = create_engine(DATABASE, echo=False, pool_recycle=3600)
 db_session = scoped_session(sessionmaker(autocommit=False,